revisions effective fall 2018 - university honors...

Last updated April 2018

Honors Requirements

Revisions effective Fall 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS PRELIMINARY REMARKS ................................................................................................... 3

REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION WITH LATIN HONORS .................................... 5

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................ 5 WHAT FULFILLS AN HONORS REQUIREMENT? ................................................................... 6

THE FIRST YEAR ................................................................................................................... 7

COHORTS ......................................................................................................................... 7 NEXUS ONE EXPERIENCE ............................................................................................... 8

THE MID-PROGRAM REVIEW ............................................................................................ 9

PETITIONING REMOVAL FROM THE PROGRAM.................................................................... 9

THE SENIOR YEAR .............................................................................................................. 10

THESIS ........................................................................................................................... 10 Option A: Sole-authored Thesis ......................................................................... 11

Option B: Group Project .................................................................................... 13 Option C: Department-specific Option ............................................................... 15

SUPPORTING COURSEWORK ............................................................................................ 18

POST-FRESHMAN ADMITTED STUDENTS AND STUDENTS GRADUATING IN FEWER THAN EIGHT SEMESTERS .................. 20

IMPLICATIONS FOR COHORTS .......................................................................................... 21

OTHER PROGRAMMATIC CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................. 22 UHP ELIGIBILITY ........................................................................................................... 22

COMBINED BACHELORS AND MASTERS PROGRAMS ......................................................... 22 STUDENTS WHO ENTERED UNDER PREVIOUS REQUIREMENTS .......................................... 22

SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY AND STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT ......................................... 22 LE REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................................ 22

DEPARTMENTAL CONTRACTS ......................................................................................... 22 1919

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PRELIMINARY REMARKS

This document lays out a new direction for the University Honors Program. The changes to the programmatic requirements are consequential, accomplishing three things: 1) increasing the flexibility of the program; 2) enabling Honors requirements to intersect meaningfully with each student’s major program(s) of study; and (3) providing for increased cross-disciplinary interactions between students and faculty. In general, the new requirements assume that students will start out more broadly at the beginning of their degree programs, developing both an appreciation for the larger contexts in which they will complete their undergraduate studies and a familiarity with various disciplinary lines of inquiry. Later on, students will necessarily focus on completing upper-division major requirements and an Honors capstone project. We present these requirements not as a checklist of things to do, nor with the onus of additional burdens on top of collegiate and major requirements, but rather as a means to describe the access and opportunities afforded UHP students—access and opportunities we expect Honors students to value as they develop excellence in scholarship, creativity, leadership, and ethics. Moreover, we hope these requirements speak to the commonalities of experience we want all Honors students to enjoy during their time as undergraduates here at the University of Minnesota: • a transformative first-year experience that contextualizes later study, • a lasting small-group support structure in which to incubate ideas and meaningful intellectual relationships, • a minimum of one Honors seminar or Grand Challenge course, • and a signature senior thesis. These requirements will serve to reinforce the vision, mission, and values that define UHP: Vision: UHP is a student-centered place of connection for undergraduate education across the University; a place where our community can come together to innovate, create, lead, and serve; a place that challenges high-ability students to be bold, unconventional thinkers. Mission: UHP seeks to provide our students with a rich environment in which to pursue an enhanced undergraduate experience. To accomplish this, we offer innovative coursework, specialized advising, a vibrant intellectual community, and unique experiential learning opportunities. These inspire and support our students as they identify, articulate, and overcome the challenges they face as learners and life-long members of a global community. The following values guide the work we do together in UHP: • Serendipity. We believe that a clearly defined end-goal is not required for academic experiences to be transformative. Rather, some of the best outcomes result from giving intelligent, motivated people space, resources, and access to one another. • Ideas. We believe that ideas are at the center of our shared endeavor. Generated by curiosity, debate, and epiphany; expressed in research papers, in performances, or in critiques; the ideas we foster are what collectively advance our understanding of the world.

Preliminary Remarks

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• Leadership and Service. We believe that leadership and service empower individuals to make meaningful contributions to their communities, and in so doing, improve the human condition. Both pursuits emerge from the ability to conceive, explain, or implement ideas and practices in ways that motivate others to do the same. • Collaboration. We believe that the ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of people is among the most important skills we can cultivate. Successful collaboration depends upon understanding ethics, demonstrating respect, and embracing differences. • Equity and Diversity. We believe that diversity is fundamental to everything we do. We are committed to celebrating difference, promoting the inherent dignity of all people, and helping one another overcome systemic barriers to success. Through self-reflection and meaningful interaction, we seek to understand and welcome individuals from the full range of lived experiences—a range that includes, but is not limited to: people of every race, ethnic background, religious expression, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, socio-economic background, public-assistance status, veteran status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and, gender expression. In closing, I wish to thank the many faculty, staff, students, administrators, and friends of the Honors Program who took the time to read and comment upon previous drafts of these requirements. Respectfully submitted on behalf of the entire University Honors Program staff,

Matthew Bribitzer-Stull Director, University Honors Program Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Professor of Music Theory

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REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION WITH LATIN HONORS

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS In brief, all students graduating with Latin Honors must complete the following:

• UHP NEXUS ONE experience • 3 Honors courses (at least one an HSem or GCC) • 5 additional Honors experiences (course or non-course) • Senior thesis and supporting thesis course work (one semester of thesis coursework, minimum; thesis coursework amounting to at least 2 credits after the first semester of thesis coursework may count as one of the three Honors courses, above)

This report details the first-year experience and senior-year requirements in later sections. Beyond these requirements, students must also complete three (3) additional Honors courses, one (1) of which must be an Honors seminar or Grand Challenge course, and five (5) additional Honors experiences (course or non-course). These eight (8) total requirements may be completed at any time once the student has officially matriculated into an undergraduate degree program at the University of Minnesota. (Hence, experiences completed during high school (e.g., PSEO) or the summer before matriculation to the University, while certainly contributing to a student’s admission to UHP, won’t count toward Honors requirement fulfilment. Note that experiences completed by a non-Honors first- or second-year student who is later admitted to UHP would count). We encourage students to complete four or five of their Honors requirements during the first two years in order to pass the mid-program review (see page 9 for more information).

All students must meet the GPA requirements mandated by University policy for the appropriate level of Latin Honors:

cum laude 3.500–3.665 GPA for last 60 graded credits

magna cum laude 3.666–3.749 GPA for last 60 graded credits

summa cum laude 3.75–4.0 GPA for last 60 graded credits

The GPA of the last 60 graded credits and the nature of the senior-year project will be the determining factors as to the student’s level of Latin Honors. (See pg. 11 for more on the thesis and level of Latin Honors.) When the new University policy amendment goes into effect Fall 2018, students who are no more than 0.1 GPA point below any of these bands, above, may be recommended by their thesis committee for the level of Honors just above the GPA level, if the student writes a truly exceptional thesis. “Exceptional” is defined as any summa-level thesis for students whose GPA is 3.566 or lower (because these students are not expected to write a summa-level thesis). For students in the 3.65–3.749 GPA range, “exceptional” will be at the judgment of the committee, who will decide if this is among the very best summa-level theses to come out of the department. Recommendations from thesis committees would need to be approved by the UHP Faculty Advisory Board and the UHP Directors Committee to be successfully applied.

Requirements for Graduation with Latin Honors

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WHAT FULFILLS AN HONORS REQUIREMENT?

Course Experiences (for A–F courses to qualify, student must earn a grade of C- or higher) • an Honors seminar ≥ 2 credits

• a Grand Challenge course ≥ 2 credits

• a departmental Honors course ≥ 2 credits (including a block of sequential courses that sum to 2+ credits)

• a graduate course (≥ 5xxx-level) not required by the major, nor part of a suite of technical-elective, upper-division major options commonly taken by non-UHP majors [The departmental Faculty Honors Representative will determine which courses are eligible.]

• at most one approved course add-on per year, including, but not limited to: - course-related, faculty-directed research - a course-related project - a contract explaining how the student will have some form of enhanced engagement

with the course material - Honors dimension integrated into learning-abroad course (e.g., Global Identity

Seminar)

Non-Course Experiences • mentor-supervised, independent work of at least 45 hours of student work, sanctioned by a faculty member (the default being the departmental Faculty Honors Representative) on a proposal form, and certified by project supervisor (who may be the same faculty member); said work including, e.g.:

- an independent study ≥ 2 credits - faculty-directed research and/or creative activity (including UROP) - internship - HECUA - completion of OED Equity and Diversity advanced certificate - successful application for, and completion of, an ACARA Fellowship

• one of three learning-abroad experiences: - HSem or Honors course with abroad or with embedded or extension experience

abroad (these count in addition to the Honors course experience) - Completing OLPD3330H (1 credit) in conjunction with any other learning-abroad

experience lasting at least four weeks (e.g., semester study abroad, internship abroad, I-UROP, National Student Exchange, etc.)

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• CCEL/UHP module completed alongside any community-engaged volunteering, leadership, research, course work, etc. of at least 45 hours

• UHP NEXUS experience

• presentation at a scholarly conference, sanctioned by departmental Faculty Honors Representative

• publication in a scholarly journal, sanctioned by departmental Faculty Honors Representative

• cohort-designed experience (see below), sanctioned by faculty cohort mentor

• leadership role in the new University of Minnesota undergraduate research journal

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THE FIRST YEAR COHORTS Our notion of the Honors cohort borrows loosely from the successful Posse program—a program designed to improve the undergraduate experience among students who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. While modeling high-ability education on a program designed to enable access for under-represented individuals may not seem like an obvious choice, it has long been a truism of North American education that students with a variety of special circumstances are afforded additional resources and opportunities to enable their continued successes. In our case, we present the option for a lasting small-group experience with a faculty leader not to increase retention in UHP (though that will likely be a side benefit), but rather to support a forum for peers to share ideas and experiences across disciplines and to sustain one another’s progress toward completion of the thesis. We envision each cohort comprising about ten students, all from different colleges or programs, and—whenever possible—living in the same building. During the first year of study, the cohort will complete UHP’s first-year experience together. In subsequent years the cohort will convene at least once per semester to begin discussions of potential thesis projects, to support one another’s progress in the program, to engage socially, and possibly to propose their own cohort Honors experience. Cohorts will be encouraged to build shared reading and/or experience lists for group discussion and reflection to propose as a non-course Honors experience during the sophomore or junior year. UHP will identify about 60 faculty members willing to participate in the program. These faculty members will come largely from the ranks of past Honors Seminar instructors, departmental Honors course instructors, and departmental Faculty Honors Representatives. UHP will provide supplemental salary for these faculty leaders to run the first-year experience and to oversee and encourage cohort activity for all four years. UHP will also provide annual support for each cohort to have a modest programming budget (for food, event tickets, and the like). UHP will offer a mandatory training session for all new faculty taking on this leadership role.

First-Year Requirements

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NEXUS ONE EXPERIENCE During the first year, all cohorts will complete the UHP First-Year Experience. This is not a course, nor does it have a defined final product to be submitted and/or evaluated. Rather, it is a structural, conceptual space in which we expect Honors students to develop—through reading, reflection, discussion, and engagement with a variety of materials and experiences—a sense of self and of context relevant to their undergraduate studies. This experience will replace required collegiate first-year courses if it is all possible to negotiate this. In consultation with faculty from the colleges and schools with undergraduate programs, and with the University Libraries, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, ACARA, Learning Abroad Center, and Community-Engaged Scholarship Center, UHP will develop and curate the material for this experience. Said material will encourage the students to consider the following as a suite of inter-related topics: • self-identity, values, and developmental goals; • what it means to be part of a large research University, including a specific introduction to the mission of the University of Minnesota and its Grand Challenges; • orientation to large fields of inquiry (e.g., arts, humanities, hard sciences, social sciences, business, health care, and so forth); • orientation to the student’s home college via a module insert; • orientation to research and the resources available at the University; • orientation to academic integrity in research; • orientation to the greater Twin Cities community and to community-engaged learning; • preparing to apply for national and international scholarships; • an introduction to learning-abroad possibilities; and • an introduction to the responsibilities of future leaders to understand the present intertwined economic, environmental, psychological, and geo-political realities facing Homo sapiens.

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THE MID-PROGRAM REVIEW Each UHP student will undergo a mid-program review. This will occur after four semesters for new high school students, and after two semesters for post-freshman admits. During the review, the UHP advisor (in consultation with the UHP directors, as necessary) will determine if the student is likely to complete Latin Honors. Students may be removed from UHP during the mid-program review for any of the following reasons:

• GPA below 3.5. University Policy dictates that students must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher in the last 60 graded credits of study in order to graduate with Latin Honors. Students whose preliminary work suggests that this will be unlikely—especially while trying to fulfil Honors requirements in conjunction with major coursework—may be removed from the program.

• Fewer than one scheduled advising appointment with the Honors advisor each semester in residence. Students are expected to meet regularly with the Honors advisor to discuss their progress in the program and their future plans. Those who have not done so may be removed.

• Lack of completion of Honors experiences. Students who have not completed the first-year Honors requirements and/or who have not completed enough Honors experiences to make timely completion of the program likely may be removed from the program.

As is currently the case, UHP advisors will exercise a good deal of discretion in making recommendations about continuation in the program. Current structures to review non-continuation decisions and to allow students to petition them will remain in place. PETITIONING REMOVAL FROM THE PROGRAM Students removed from UHP during the mid-program review may petition this removal by writing an explanatory letter to the Associate Director of Admissions and Student Services. The letter should explain any extenuating circumstances, and also include a detailed plan of how the student plans to meet all programmatic requirements by the time of graduation. In no cases will special exceptions be made for students to add an additional semester of study (beyond eight semesters for freshman admits to the University, or six semesters for transfer students) solely for the purpose of completing an Honors requirement.

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THE SENIOR YEAR THESIS Whatever form it takes, the purposes of the thesis are many, all of which develop skills that will serve our students well after graduation. Among them are the expectations that all students demonstrate in this project:

• the ability to digest pre-existing work, present and summarize it succinctly, and, hence, articulate the context in which the student’s new work is situated; • the ability to propose an idea in brief (i.e., the thesis proposal), and then bring that idea to fruition within a given timeline; • the ability to present writing whose quality and polish are at a publishable level (even if the data, research, or ideas are still at a preliminary level); • the ability to present ideas clearly and compellingly to an audience of non-specialists; • and, the ability to go beyond programmatic or major capstone requirements for non-UHP students.

Moreover, a summa thesis must also demonstrate:

• the ability to do original (i.e., not an extended literature review or synopsis of previous work), highest-quality work; • the ability to meet department- or program-specific stipulations for summa-level thesis work (these will be developed in conjunction with UHP and made publicly available)

Cohort discussion. Ideally, students will begin proposing and refining ideas for the thesis within their cohorts some time before their final year of study. During the final year, each student must make two informal presentations to their cohort members about their thesis. The first presentation will likely be more preliminary in nature, sketching out for the cohort the outlines of the project, while the second will likely be summary in nature, explaining the end result(s) of the thesis work. The committee. All students will choose a capstone committee comprising at least three members, a primary advisor and two readers. At least one member—not necessarily the primary advisor—must be tenured or tenure-track faculty at the University of Minnesota. (The other members, may be tenured/tenure-track U of MN faculty, or another member of the faculty with specialized knowledge relevant to the student’s research topic; in rare cases a community member, a member of a faculty elsewhere, an advanced graduate student, etc. may serve on an Honors thesis committee: such exceptional cases require that the department make a petition to be approved by the UHP Directors Committee.) Committee members need not belong to the same program or college; in fact, in some cases it will be beneficial to have committee members from diverse units present.

Senior-Year Requirements

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Each committee will have a Chair, who will often be the primary advisor for the student during research and writing, though students will sort out on a case-by-case basis with whom they do this work, and how often they meet with them to discuss progress and to go over drafts. The Chair will determine when the thesis draft is at a final-enough state that it can be circulated to the other committee members (i.e., the readers) for additional evaluation. All committee members must sign off on the thesis itself and on the required public presentation. Irreconcilable differences between committee members on the quality of a student’s thesis will be referred to the UHP Faculty Advisory Board and the UHP Directors Committee for a final ruling. Petitions by students to overturn the judgment of their committee will likewise be referred to these committees. Rarely, and in consultation with the UHP Directors Committee, a non-participatory or problematic faculty member may be replaced on a student’s committee. Public presentation. Students completing a summa thesis will be required to produce some form of public presentation, the format of which will be determined by the committee. Examples might include: a conference-style paper presentation, an oral exam, a public performance, a poster session, an invited lecture in a research course offered in the major, and so forth. In all cases, if a student presents the thesis work at an academic conference, this will fulfil the requirement for public presentation. In general, projects that fall squarely within one discipline will have the same type of public presentation. That is, most departments or programs will have consistent norms for how UHP students fulfill the public presentation requirement for the thesis. The committee, however, is free to select another option if it is more in keeping with the aims and nature of the project. Thesis and level of Latin Honors. There are three instances in which a student’s thesis can raise or lower the level of Latin Honors relative to the GPA band the student falls into. CASE 1: A student with a summa eligible GPA either fails to, or opts not complete the requirements for a summa-level thesis. In this case, the student will graduate magna cum laude. CASE 2: The committee judges a student’s thesis to be of poor, but passable, quality. In this case, a summa-eligible student may be dropped to magna cum laude, and a magna-eligible student may be dropped to cum laude. CASE 3: A student who is no more than 0.05 GPA points below any of the GPA bands may be recommended by their thesis committee for the level of Honors just above the GPA level if the student writes a truly exceptional thesis (see page 5, above). In all cases, if a student fails to complete a thesis, or produces a thesis that the committee falls below Honors-eligible quality, that student will be ineligible to graduate with Latin Honors. Option A: Sole-authored Thesis. Students who select this option will write a thesis comprising work clearly contextualized within the body of existing material relevant to the student’s subject matter. That is, it must indicate an engaged awareness with the existing work relevant to the student’s topic. Note that there is a wide variety of what this work may look like across the University. It may involve analysis of pre-existing data sets; it may include collaborative research work done as part of a team in a wet lab; it may be done in conjunction with a faculty member’s ongoing research, and so forth.


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While the thesis itself must represent the student’s own writing and thought, the process of doing the research for the thesis need not be done in isolation. Amount of work. The thesis will often (though not always) represent at least two semesters’ worth of work (including conception of the idea, proposal, research, and writing). In many cases, much more time will have gone into the formulation of the topic and the attendant research. In all cases, consideration of the thesis topic should begin well before the student’s final semester. Evaluation of thesis. The thesis must be of appropriate length and quality. Determinations as to whether or not the student has met these standards will lie first with the thesis committee Chair, and secondly with the other member(s) of the student’s committee. That said, it is not UHP’s intention that students write something akin to a Master’s thesis in their field. Rather, students are expected to demonstrate the promise of continued excellence in graduate-program or professional work in the field. We encourage departments and programs to provide more detailed guidance about the expectations for the thesis, worked out in conjunction with UHP, to be accessible on the UHP and departmental websites. Major requirements for the senior year. The thesis will fulfill any capstone project, senior project, or senior thesis requirements demanded by the major. Note that the thesis does not supplant capstone courses required by majors (though individual departments may elect to exempt Honors students from their capstone course). This is true even if the department has a separate thesis course (i.e., some departments may require Honors students to take both their thesis course and their capstone course). Double major. Students doing a double major may write an interdisciplinary thesis that spans both majors only if a tenured or tenure-track faculty member from each program agrees to the thesis topic and serves as co-Chair (i.e., the student will have two co-Chairs plus a third committee member). Dual degree. Students completing a dual degree (e.g., a BS and a BA) may write an interdisciplinary thesis that spans both majors only if a tenured or tenure-track faculty member from each program agrees to the thesis topic and serves as a co-Chair (i.e., the student will have two co-Chairs plus a third committee member). In this case, the thesis will fulfill any capstone, project, or thesis requirements demanded by both degrees. If the student writes the thesis in one degree program only, any capstone, project, or thesis requirements demanded by the other degree will still need to be met. Again, the thesis does not supplant capstone courses required by majors. Thesis timeline. The timeline below is generic (UHP will publish specific dates based on each year’s University academic calendar) and assumes a May graduation date. Students planning to graduate in December will need to adjust the timeline accordingly. Programs that allow students to do presentations before the thesis is completed, or that host organized presentations less than two weeks before the Monday after exams, may make exceptions to the timeline accordingly.


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• December 1: Thesis proposal due. The thesis title, brief prospectus, and the committee Chair must be identified (other committee members will only be listed on the final form). This gives UHP time to reach out to committee Chairs in the spring semester to reinforce the timeline and expectations for the thesis.

• At least eight weeks before the Monday after the last day of exams: In consultation with the committee, the student sets the public presentation date, which must be at least two weeks before graduation.

• At least five weeks before public presentation (summa) or five weeks before the Monday after the last day of exams: Committee chair(s) must approve the thesis draft as final enough to circulate to the entire committee. Committee members then have two weeks to read the draft and require revisions. Revisions suggested later than two weeks after committee members receive the draft will be considered advisory only (i.e., not required). Students whose work is deemed by the committee Chair(s) to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.

• At least three weeks before public presentation (summa) or three weeks before the Monday after the last day of exams: Student receives committee revision requests and begins to incorporate these.

• At least one week before public presentation (summa) or the Monday after the last day of exams: Student submits thesis to committee for final approval.

• At public presentation (summa) or by the Monday after the last day of exams: Committee observes and evaluates entire thesis project, either signing Graduation with Latin Honors form, or requiring additional work. Students whose work is deemed by the committee to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors. Option B: Group Project. Students who select this option will engage in a group project. This may be a co-authored thesis or a project of another type. It may comprise students wholly within one major working together on a disciplinary project, or students from two or more majors working on an interdisciplinary project. While this option opens up a number of exciting options for collaborative work, students and faculty need to understand that it is not a guaranteed option; even more than the thesis, the proposal is of crucial importance in determining whether this can be a viable final project. A high level of care must be invested by students in putting together a convincing proposal, similar to the level of care invested by students proposing individualized degrees. Here are but a few possible examples of what an Option B project might look like: • A CBS and CEHD student collaborating to write up a comprehensive, community-engaged biology curriculum for high-school students attending a science-oriented charter school. • A Nursing student, a CLA (Music) student, and a CDES (Architecture) student collaborate to design a senior assisted-living community with a focus on participating in music making.


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• A CSE and CSOM student collaborate to engineer a widget and draw up a marketing plan for it to present to potential investors. The committee for a group project will comprise a faculty member from each student’s major (plus a third, if needed) up to a maximum of five committee members (i.e., group projects may not involve more than five students). Each committee member must approve of the project proposal. In lieu of—or in addition to—major, departmental, or programmatic thesis course work, students selecting Option B will be required to enroll in UHP 4001 for at least one semester. (While students may enroll for more than one semester, all students working on the same project must enroll together during the same semester at least once.) Students don’t necessarily have to “do” their major as part of the project, though there are necessarily implications for the fulfilment of major requirements (see below). In all cases, the student’s contribution to the project must be substantively and qualitatively different from any major capstone requirements they face. Amount of work. The project will often (though not always) represent at least two semester’s worth of work (including conception of the idea, proposal, research, and writing) for each student involved. In many cases, much more time will have gone into the formulation of the project and the attendant work. In all cases, consideration of the project’s nature and scope should begin well before the students’ final semester. Evaluation of project. The project must be of appropriate nature, scope, and quality, as determined by the committee. Moreover, each student’s individual contributions need to be clearly laid out along with contingency plans for what members of the group intend to do should one or more of the students involved produce sub-standard work (or none at all). Determinations as to whether or not the students have met these standards will lie with the thesis committee in its entirety (including a faculty member from each student’s major). In all cases, projects are expected to demonstrate the students’ potential for continued excellence in graduate-program or professional work. Level of Latin Honors: Students collaborating on an Option B thesis may graduate with different levels of Latin Honors. Each individual’s contribution to the thesis will be held to the standards laid out above for the level of Latin Honors that individual student seeks. Major requirements for the senior year. Because students don’t necessarily do major-specific work in a group project, a group project will not necessarily fulfill any capstone, project, or thesis requirements demanded by the major. Each program’s Director of Undergraduate Studies (in consultation with the Honors Faculty Representative) will make its own determinations about what major requirements are or are not fulfilled by an Honors group project. Double major or dual degree. Each program’s Director of Undergraduate Studies (in consultation with the Honors Faculty Representative) will make its own determinations about what major requirements are or are not fulfilled by an Honors group project. Hence, it is possible that a double-major- or dual-degree-seeking UHP student selecting


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Option B for the capstone will have a capstone requirement in each major in addition to the UHP capstone. Project timeline. The timeline below is generic (UHP will publish specific dates based on each year’s University academic calendar) and assumes a May graduation date. Students planning to graduate in December will need to adjust the timeline accordingly.

• Mid-March, fourteen (14) months before graduation: Group-project proposal due. The project summary, and all major committee members must be identified (other committee members will only be listed on the final form). Each major committee member must sign the form. This gives students contemplating a group project time to switch gears and do a sole-authored thesis (or Option C) if the proposed committee faculty or UHP deem the project proposal not viable.

• At least eight weeks before the Monday after the last day of exams: In consultation with committee, students set public presentation date, which must be at least two weeks before graduation.

• At least five weeks before public presentation (summa) or the Monday after the last day of exams: Committee chair(s) must approve the project as final enough to circulate to the entire committee. Committee members have two weeks to evaluate the project, such as it is, and require revisions. Revisions suggested later than two weeks after committee members receive the project will be considered advisory only (i.e., not required). Students whose work is deemed by the committee chair(s) to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.

• At least three weeks before public presentation (summa) or five weeks before the Monday after the last day of exams: Students receive committee revision requests and begins to incorporate these.

• At least one week before public presentation (summa) or three weeks before the Monday after the last day of exams: Students submit project to committee for final approval.

• At public presentation (summa) or by the Monday after the last day of exams: Committee observes and evaluates presentation, either signing Graduation with Latin Honors form, or requiring additional work. Students whose work is deemed by the committee to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors. Option C: Department-specific Option. Some departments or programs may wish to have another option for individual thesis work distinct from the traditional kind of project described in Option A. These could take the form of: • a recital or lecture-recital, • a professional portfolio, • creation of a set of pedagogical materials and/or an annotated teaching demonstration, and so forth.


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Such options will be negotiated between UHP and the department or program in question, and ultimately presented on the UHP and departmental websites. Amount of work. The Option C thesis will often (though not always) represent at least two semesters’ worth of work (including conception of the idea, proposal, work, and final submission/presentation). In many cases, much more time will have gone into the formulation of the topic and the attendant work. In all cases, consideration of the thesis topic should begin well before the student’s final semester. Evaluation of thesis. The thesis must be of appropriate length and quality. Determinations as to whether or not the student has met these standards will lie first with the thesis committee Chair, and secondly with the other members of the student’s committee. Students are expected to demonstrate the promise of continued excellence in graduate-program or professional work in the field. We encourage departments and programs to provide more detailed guidance about the expectations for the Option C thesis, worked out in conjunction with UHP, to be accessible on the UHP and departmental websites. Major requirements for the senior year. The thesis will fulfill any capstone project, senior project, or senior thesis requirements demanded by the major. Note that the thesis does not supplant capstone courses required by majors (though individual departments may elect to exempt Honors students from their capstone course). This is true even if the department has a separate thesis course (i.e., some departments may require Honors students to take both their thesis course and their capstone course). Double major. It is possible that students doing a double major may complete an interdisciplinary Option C thesis that spans both majors (say a recital-exhibition for a B.A. Dance and Studio Art double major) only if a faculty member from each program agrees to the thesis project and serves as co-Chair (i.e., the student will have two co-Chairs, plus a third committee member). Dual degree. It is unlikely than an Option C thesis will fulfill any requirements for the student’s other degree. Thesis timeline. The timeline below is generic (UHP will publish specific dates based on each year’s University academic calendar) and assumes a May graduation date. Students planning to graduate in December will need to adjust the timeline accordingly. Programs that allow students to do presentations before the thesis is completed, or that host organized presentations less than two weeks before the Monday after exams, may make exceptions to the timeline accordingly.

• December 1: Thesis proposal due. The thesis title, brief prospectus, and the committee Chair must be identified (other committee members will only be listed on the final form). This gives UHP time to reach out to committee Chairs in the spring semester to reinforce the timeline and expectations for the thesis.


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• At least eight weeks before the Monday after the last day of exams: In consultation with the committee, the student sets the public presentation date, which must be at least two weeks before graduation.

• At least five weeks before public presentation (summa) or five weeks before

the Monday after the last day of exams: Committee chair(s) must approve the thesis draft as final enough to circulate to the entire committee. Committee members then have two weeks to read the draft and require revisions. Revisions suggested later than two weeks after committee members receive the draft will be considered advisory only (i.e., not required). Students whose work is deemed by the committee Chair(s) to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.

• At least three weeks before public presentation (summa) or three weeks

before the Monday after the last day of exams: Student receives committee revision requests and begins to incorporate these.

• At least one week before public presentation (summa) or the Monday after

the last day of exams: Student submits thesis to committee for final approval. • At public presentation (summa) or by the Monday after the last day of

exams: Committee observes and evaluates entire thesis project, either signing Graduation with Latin Honors form, or requiring additional work. Students whose work is deemed by the committee to be not ready by this point will likely have their graduation delayed and/or not be able to graduate with Latin Honors.


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SUPPORTING COURSEWORK In addition to the thesis, students are required to successfully complete any supporting or capstone Honors coursework required by their program (first option), college (second option), or UHP (third option), comprising at least a one-semester, one-credit course. Programs or colleges that require more than one semester of course work—including thesis-preparation or research coursework before the senior year—must offer this course work as an Honors departmental course that will count toward major-elective requirements and Honors course experiences. Non-Honors capstone coursework required of all departmental majors will still be required of Honors students unless the department or program determines the Honors thesis coursework fufills this requirement. For students who don’t have the option of supporting coursework offered by the major, program, or college, the following will be made available: • UHP 4000H: Honors thesis. A one-credit course offered every semester and team-taught by two faculty members from different colleges. • UHP 4001H: Honors project. A one-credit course offered every semester and team-taught by two faculty members from different colleges. • Students exercising Option C will look to their department for guidance as to what support coursework is most germane to their project. Substituting support coursework outside the major. For students doing interdisciplinary work, whether on their own or in conjunction with other students, selection of the appropriate committee chair and supporting coursework will be of paramount importance. Neither need necessarily be in the student’s home department. The intended audience for the student’s work will be an important factor in selecting the committee chair, members, and supporting coursework. For example, a CBS student working on a science-education-related thesis may choose to work with a faculty member from CEHD as committee chair. A CBS student and a CSOM student working together on a group project creating a new medical device may both elect to enroll in the Carlson thesis-support course, and select a Carlson faculty member as committee chair, if the final project is a marketing plan intended largely for potential investors. On the other hand, both students may enroll in the CBS thesis-support course, and select a CBS faculty member as committee chair if the final project is an explanation of how the product can be used to assist in wet-lab research, written primarily for scientists. It’s even conceivable that these two students could turn to CDES for a committee chair and support coursework, should the capstone project comprise a set of design specifications. Students will need to petition the Faculty Honors Representative in their major for permission to take thesis coursework outside of any provided by the major program. Included in this petition will be a request that this substitute coursework count for the senior-year required coursework in the major (if any).


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N.B. In extremely rare cases, a student may have good reason to complete the senior-year requirements before the final semester of enrollment. Such exceptional cases will need to be approved by the UHP Directors Committee and arranged with the department(s) involved in advance of the semester in which the student hopes to complete the requirements.

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POST-FRESHMAN ADMITTED STUDENTS AND STUDENTS GRADUATING IN FEWER THAN EIGHT SEMESTERS

Students admitted to UHP who anticipate graduating in fewer than eight semesters must still complete the first-year requirement and the senior-year requirements in full. Those with five or more semesters until graduation will also undergo a mid-program review when they have four semesters of study remaining. In addition, students must complete one (1) Honors experience for every semester of study they anticipate completing before earning the undergraduate degree. At least one (1) of these experiences must comprise an Honors seminar or Grand Challenge course. The same situation obtains for students entering as first-year students who have advanced standing due to a large number of college credits earned in high school (through AP, IB, or PSEO coursework, and the like) and who anticipate completing the undergraduate degree in fewer than eight semesters. The number of Honors requirements will be set in consultation with the Honors advisor during the student’s first semester of study (N.B. All new high-school students entering the Honors program will start with the assumption of eight semesters in the program, regardless of their plans at the time), though the student may petition to reduce the number in a later semester should circumstances change and graduation be possible earlier than originally anticipated. In all cases, the Honors requirements will always include NEXUS One, the thesis, the thesis support coursework, and at least one (1) additional experience per semester of study, including at least three (3) courses, (at least one (1) an Honors seminar or Grand Challenge course). N.B. In no cases will additional requirements be added for students who extend their time to degree completion beyond four years (for new, first-year students) or beyond the number of semesters deemed the minimum necessary to graduate upon entry to the program as a post-freshman student. Example 1. A new first-year UHP student enters with 60 college credits, hence sophomore standing. She originally intends to graduate in four years (eight semesters). She completes the UHP first-year experience and two Honors experiences during her first year. At the end of that year she informs her advisor that she’ll be able to graduate in two more years (six semesters total). The advisor informs the student that she’ll go through mid-program review over the summer to ensure that she can complete four more Honors experiences (for a grand total of six) and her senior-year requirements by the time she intends to graduate. Example 2. A transfer student is admitted to the University as an incoming junior. They meet with their Honors advisor and determine it will take four semesters to graduate. Thus, in addition to the first-year and senior-year requirements, this student will need to complete four additional Honors requirements, at least one of them an Honors seminar or Grand Challenge course. There is no mid-program review since the student enters with only four semesters needed to complete the undergraduate degree. Midway through the

Post-Freshman Admitted Students and Students Graduating in Fewer than Eight Semesters

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third semester, the student informs the advisor that—due to life circumstances—they will need to take an additional semester to finish all the degree requirements. Despite this, the Honors requirements remain fixed at four; they do not increase to five. Example 3. A first-year student at the University of Minnesota applies for admission to UHP. He intends to graduate at the end of his fourth year. Hence, in addition to the first-year and senior-year requirements, he must complete six Honors requirements. He was able to take an Honors seminar as a non-UHP student his first year, so he only has five requirements remaining. He will undergo mid-program review at the end of his sophomore year, when he has four semesters remaining. IMPLICATIONS FOR COHORTS Post-freshmen admitted to UHP will be placed in a cohort with other post-freshman students also beginning their first year in the program. Ideally, these students (as with incoming freshmen) will be graduating— hence discussing thesis ideas and progress with one another—at the same time. It is likely, however, that in some cases not all students in a given cohort will end up graduating the same semester, nor necessarily beginning or completing thesis work the same semester. While it would be ideal for all students in a cohort to be doing thesis work in lock-step with one another, thesis-related discussions can begin at any time; in fact, getting students thinking about the thesis earlier may be a benefit of the cohort structure, as some students will necessarily begin developing ideas before others.

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OTHER PROGRAMMATIC RECOMMENDATIONS UHP ELIGIBILITY Only full-time students enrolled at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, who are pursuing their first undergraduate degree are eligible to participate in the University Honors Program. COMBINED BACHELORS AND MASTERS PROGRAMS Typically, students must finish all requirements for graduation with Latin Honors before their bachelor’s degree is awarded. The only acceptable exception is for students who enter the University of Minnesota Twin Cities’ Integrated Degree Program. In these cases, students who have begun work on the thesis before receiving their undergraduate degree, may complete the thesis work after receiving the degree, if it is done before completion of the master’s degree and is within one year of receipt of the bachelor’s degree. These students will receive an amended diploma including Latin Honors. STUDENTS WHO ENTERED UHP UNDER PREVIOUS REQUIREMENTS All UHP students who become active in the program before Fall 2018 will continue under the old requirements. All students who become active Fall 2018 or later will use the new requirements. This inflexibility is largely due to the inability of the program to weave students into the newly required first-year experience and cohort structure, when it is not, in fact, the student’s first year in the Honors program. STUDENT CONDUCT-CODE VIOLATIONS A student with a disciplinary, scholarly-dishonesty Student Conduct Code violation on record is ineligible to graduate with Latin Honors. Students who have been sanctioned under the U of MN Student Code of Conduct will be under review for possible removal from the University Honors Program. LE REQUIREMENTS UHP students have the ability to work in consultation with the advisor under program guidelines to fulfill LE requirements in ways other than those currently offered to the student population at large. These will be explained in greater detail in this space once the campus-wide LE review process is complete and UHP has had the opportunity to consult with the LE committee. DEPARTMENTAL CONTRACTS All standing departmental contracts will be available on the UHP website. Sample contracts and other course add-ins will be available in the forthcoming UHP Faculty Handbook.

revisions effective fall 2018 - university honors...

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